City Trader Who Spent £200,000 on Champagne Arrested by FSA

In March, 23-year-old UK Foreign Exchange trader Alex Hope made headlines for reportedly spending more than $320,000 on champagne at a Liverpool night club. Exactly one month later, he’s back in the news. But this time, instead of libations, it’s about allegations.

Hope was arrested Tuesday by the U.K.’s Financial Services Authority “on suspicion of being involved in an unauthorised foreign exchange trading scheme,” City A.M reported. His publicist, who told City A.M. that Hope denies the allegations, had no further comment when contacted by The Huffington Post.

A little more than a week ago, Hope came to HuffPost’s offices to talk about his passion for foreign exchange trading and the public’s mixed reaction to his nightclub spending spree. Dressed in a sharp navy blue suit and wearing an expensive watch with a pair of white athletic socks, Hope chatted about his meteoric rise to trading stardom, his aversion to the celebrity lifestyle and what it means to “splurge sensibly.”

But given recent events, Hope’s critics might feel justified in condemning his decadent display of wealth amid a struggling global economy. And the fans who congratulated Hope’s success, asking for trading tips via his twitter account, could be having second thoughts.